The Trouble with Tribbles (episode)
The Enterprise is called to a station to deal with overbearing Federation officials, Klingons and tribbles. Summary The ''Enterprise'' is enroute to Deep Space Station K-7 for assistance with an important assignment regarding a disputed planet. One parsec from the nearest Klingon outpost ("Close enough to smell them" as Chekov puts it), the post is near Sherman's Planet, which is claimed by both sides. In a briefing with Kirk, Spock and Chekov, we learn that, under the terms of the Organian Peace Treaty, control of the planet will be granted to the party that can demonstrate it can develop the planet's resources most efficiently. In the midst of the briefing, however, an alert comes in from the bridge; K-7 has issued a Priority One alert, which signals that it is under attack. The Enterprise arrives at maximum warp, armed for battle... only to find no battle. Beaming over, Kirk demands an explanation from Station Manager Lurry, but is told he was ordered to do so by a Nilz Baris, a Federation official in charge of the Sherman's Planet development project. Baris and his aide, Arne Darvin, explain they used the Priority One out of fear the Klingons might try to sabotage the Federation's best hope to win control of the planet -- a high-yield grain known as quattrotriticale, which would be ideal for the planet. Tons of the grain are stored at the station, and Baris demands security and protection from Kirk. Kirk is outraged over what he believes to be a misuse of the Priority One channel, but is overruled by Starfleet Admiral Fitzpatrick. To add to his troubles, a Klingon battle cruiser arrives at K-7, commanded by Captain Koloth, demanding shore leave rights under the peace treaty. Kirk reluctantly agrees, but sets limits of 12 at a time, with Enterprise guards for each Klingon soldier. Meanwhile, shore leave is granted to the Enterprise crew. On one such leave, Uhura meets a dealer named Cyrano Jones, who is trying to hawk rare galactic items... among them, furry little creatures Jones calls tribbles. In hopes of more sales, Jones gives one to Uhura. The crew quickly learns that the little furballs like humans and Vulcans (but not Klingons), are constantly hungry -- and "born pregnant," as McCoy puts it; 50% of their metabolism is geared for reproduction. If a tribble eats too much, a number of hungry little tribbles soon follow. This trait of the species soon becomes a problem, as they nearly overrun both the Enterprise and the station. Meanwhile, Kirk has more headaches; Baris demands greater security in the face of Klingon soldiers at the station, and Koloth accuses Kirk of persecuting his men. Friction between the Klingons and humans comes to a head in the form of a brawl in the station lounge, started by words between Scott and Korax. Kirk then learns the tribbles have been circulating through the station ventilation ducts -- which also lead to the grain storage areas. Opening them, Kirk finds not grain, but tribbles, gorged on the grain and cascading upon him from above. In the face of Baris' threats to convene a board of inquiry against Kirk, Spock and McCoy notice many of the tribbles in the pile are either dead or dying. McCoy begins an analysis of the tribbles and the grain, while Kirk questions Jones. Baris and Darvin and Koloth and Korax soon join them. Darvin, however, sets off the same negative reaction in the tribbles as the Klingons, bringing McCoy with his tricorder. Darvin is revealed to be a Klingon who poisoned the grain with a virus that prevents anyone eating it from absorbing the nutrients, which is how the tribbles died. "In a storage compartment full of grain, they starve to death," Kirk summarizes. Darvin is arrested, the Klingons are ordered out of Federation territory and Kirk concludes he may get to like tribbles. Back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk finds the ship swept clean of tribbles, and asks Spock, McCoy and Scott how they did it. All questions are deflected to Scott, to his great reluctance. When Kirk demands an answer, Scott replies that before the Klingons went into warp drive, he beamed all of them into their engine room, "where they'll be no tribble at all." Log entries *''Captain’s log, stardate 4523.3. Deep Space Station K-7 has issued a Priority One call. More than an emergency, it signals near or total disaster. We can only assume the Klingons have attacked the station. We're going in armed for battle. '' *''Captain’s log, stardate 4524.2. A Klingon warship is hovering only 100 kilometers from Deep Space Station K-7 while its captain waits in the station manager's office. Their intentions are unknown. '' *''Captain’s log, stardate 4525.6. A small disturbance between the Klingon crew and members of the Enterprise crew has broken out aboard Space Station K-7. I am forced to cancel shore leave for both ships. '' Memorable Quotes * "When are ye gonna get off that milk diet, lad?" "This is vodka!" "Where I'' come from, that's soda pop. Now, ''this is a drink for a man!" "Scotch?" "Aye." "T'was invented by a little old lady in Leningrad!" -- Scott and Chekov * "They do, indeed, have one redeeming characteristic." "What's that?" "They do not talk too much... if you'll excuse me, sir." -- Spock and McCoy on tribbles *"Captain Kirk, I consider your security measures a disgrace! In my opinion, you have taken this entire very important project far too lightly." "On the contrary, sir, I consider this project to be very important... it is you I take lightly." --Baris and Kirk * "That sagging old rust bucket is designed like a garbage scow! Half the quadrant knows it; that's why they're trying to learn to speak Klingonese." "Laddie... don't you think you should... rephrase that?" "Yehhhr right, ah shooold. I didn't mean to say the Enterprise should be hauling garbage, I meant to say that it should be haulded away as garbage!" -- Korax, uttering Scott's "last straw" * "What was it they said that started the fight?" "They called the Enterprise a garbage scow -- sir!" "And that's when you threw the first punch." (proudly) "Aye, sir!" "You threw the first punch because they insulted the Enterprise, not because they..." "Well, sir -- this was a matter of pride!" "I see... You're dismissed -- oh, and Scotty, you're confined to quarters until further notice." "Yes, sir -- thank you, sir! That'll give me a chance to catch up on me technical journals!" -- Kirk and Scott *"Captain -- one little tribble isn't... harmful?" --Cyrano Jones in the station bar, now overrun with tribbles *"Pick up every tribble on this station. If you do that, I'll talk to Commander Lurry about getting your ship back." "Pick up every... that would take years!" "Seventeen point nine, to be exact." "Consider it job security." "Captain, you're a hard man! (begin to escort him away) All right, all right!" "You'll do it?" "He'll do it." (weakly) "I'll do it."--Kirk, Jones and Spock *"They don't like you, Mr. Darvin! I wonder why? Bones?" (with Tricorder)"Heartbeat's all wrong... blood pressure is-- Jim, this man is a Klingon!" --Kirk and McCoy * "Jim -- I think I've figured it out; all we have to do is quit feeding them! We quit feeding them, they stop breeding!" (pause) "Now he tells me..." -- McCoy and Kirk, buried in tribbles *"Yes, but until that Board of Inquiry, I'm still captain -- and as captain, I want two things done: First -- find Cyrano Jones; and, second... close that door." --Kirk, still buried *"My dear Captain Koloth, about that apology..." "Yes?" "You have six hours to get your ship out of Federation territory!" --Kirk and Koloth part company *"I gave them a very good home, sir." "WHERE?!?" "I gave them to the Klingons, sir." (Quietly)"You gave them to the Klingons?" "Aye, sir. Before they went into warp, I beamed the whole kit and kaboodle into their engine room... where they'll be no 'tribble' at all." --Scott, explaining the cleanup of the Tribbles to Kirk Background Information * Star Trek would return to the events of this episode in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations." *Bantam Books published a series of novelizations called "foto-novels," which took photographic stills from actual episodes and arranged word balloons and text over them, to create a comic book formatted story. The third installment was an adaptation of this episode. * James Doohan insisted on doing his own stunts. In the barroom brawl, he throws some very convincing punches. Jay Jones only doubled for him in a few brief fight sequences. * Shatner was being purposely hit on the head by the prop man with tribbles during production of the "buried in tribbles" scene. It took an incredible number of takes to get the avalanche of tribbles to fall just right. * Wah Chang designed the original tribbles. The hundreds of prop tribbles were sewn together during production using pieces of extra-long carpet. Some of them had mechanical toys placed in them so they could walk around. The original tribbles became sought-after collector's items, and quickly disappeared from the prop department. * The line in which Spock says that Kirk heard what Baris said, but could not believe his ears, was lifted directly from a Mad Magazine spoof of "Star Trek" that had just been published. * This is the only time in the series that Scott and Chekov have a conversation with one another. * Sound effects editor Douglas Grindstaff combined altered dove coos, screech owl cries and emptying balloons to create the tribble sounds. * The Enterprise miniature seen out of Lurry's window doesn't move, but if it was orbiting at the same speed the station was rotating, this would make sense. The ship seen out the window is another AMT model kit. In the 70s, AMT even offered a K-7 Space Station model kit, complete with a tiny Enterprise. "SCTV" would blow up a Klingon ship with phaser blasts from some of these K-7 model kits in a low-budget effects spoof of "The Empire Strikes Back!" in 1981. * The entire bar set, including the bartender's costume is recycled from "Court Martial". * Footage of K-7 would be recycled in The Ultimate Computer. * Easily missed is Korax making fun of Scotty's accent: "Yerrrrright, ah shoooould." * Guy Raymond (the Bartender) also played a bartender in beer commercials during the 60s, in which he commented on the strange occurances in his bar! * Michael Pataki is another actor who guested in two series of "Star Trek", appearing in Too Short a Season on ST:TNG. * George Takei (Hikaru Sulu) does not appear in this episode. For a good chunk of the second season, he was filming "The Green Berets." Many scenes written for Takei were switched over to Walter Koenig. * Some of the extras in the bar are wearing turtleneck uniforms from The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before. The gentleman who seems to be enjoying watching the fight is wearing Finnegan's uniform from Shore Leave. * This episode was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1968 as "Best Dramatic Presentation". * This fun script, one of 'Star Trek's' most popular, was David Gerrold's first sale to a television show. His working title for the episode was "A Fuzzy Thing Happened to Me..." * Ed Reimers, who plays Admiral Fitzpatrick, was the t.v spokesman for All-State Insurance in the 1960s. In a funny sequence from the blooper reel, he catches a tribble and says, "Oh, and Captain: you're in good hands with tribbles." * William Schallert later guest stars as Varani in DS9: "Sanctuary". Links and References Main cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Walter Koenig as Chekov Guest Stars *William Schallert as Nilz Baris *William Campbell as Koloth *Stanley Adams as Cyrano Jones *Whit Bissell as Lurry *Michael Pataki as Korax *Ed Reimers as Admiral Fitzpatrick *Charlie Brill as Arne Darvin *Paul Baxley as Freeman *David L. Ross as Galloway (credited as guard) *Guy Raymond as the bartender *Eddie Paskey as Leslie (uncredited) *William Blackburn as Hadley (uncredited) *Roger Holloway as Roger Lemli (uncredited) *Frank da Vinci as Vinci (uncredited) *Dick Crockett as the bald Klingon *Bob Orrison as a Klingon brawler *Bob Miles as a Klingon brawler *Richard Antoni as a Klingon brawler *Jerry Summers as Walter Koenig's stunt double *Jay Jones as James Doohan's stunt double *Phil Adams as Michael Pataki's stunt double References Antarean glow water; Burke, John; Canada; credit; Deep Space K-7; Denebian slime-devil (Deneb system); Donatu V; Earth; Earther; Federation-Klingon Cold War; general quarters; Jones, Cyrano; Klingons; Klingon Empire; Klingonese; Klingon spy; Koloth's ship; Organian Peace Treaty; parsec; quadrotriticale; Regulan bloodworm (Regulan system); Russia; Scotch whisky; Sherman's Planet; Spican flame gem; technical journal; tribbles; triticale; vodka Trouble With Tribbles, The de:Kennen Sie Tribbles? fr:The Trouble with Tribbles nl:The Trouble with Tribbles